Southern California High School Football Top 25 rankings
The first full week of Southern California high school football has arrived, which means it's time to unveil our Top 25 rankings. Our rankings encompass the Southern Section, LA City Section and San Diego Section.
Bosco’s senior
core of DJ Uiagalelei, Drake Metcalf, Kobe Pepe and Kourt Williams has lost to
Mater Dei in section championship games the last two seasons. Last year’s loss
came after the Braves had beaten the Monarchs 41-18 in the regular season. They
feel like they let last year’s championship slip away and are desperate to get
back on top.
The margin
between Bosco and Mater Dei is razor thin. Orange Lutheran transfer Logan Loya
will be the Braves’ x-factor. Having a high-level senior receiver with Trinity
League experience will be what tips the scale in St. John Bosco’s favor in
2019.
2. Mater Dei
The Monarchs
have a great chance at an open division state championship three-peat. Head
coach Bruce Rollinson said quarterback Bryce Young has “the keys to the race
car” this season. The USC commit will have a huge year.
Mater Dei must
replace Bru McCoy and Elias Ricks. McCoy played both ways as a defensive
lineman and was the Monarchs’ number one receiver in 2018. Ricks intercepted
three passes and returned them all for scores in the first half of last year’s
semifinal win over Corona Centennial. Even for Mater Dei, where they don’t
rebuild, they reload, making up for the loss of these two will be extremely
difficult in the St. John Bosco game(s).
The Huskies look
like the last great public school power in Southern California high school
football. Corona Centennial opens their season against Mater Dei on August
23rd. That game will reveal just how big the gap is between the big-two and
everybody else.
Junior defensive
lineman Kore Foreman has emerged as one of the top 2021 recruits in the nation
this offseason. He recently visited Clemson.
4. JSerra
The Lions lost
their two biggest games to St. John Bosco and Oaks Christian by a combined
eight points last season. They return a loaded offensive line led by Michigan
commit Jeffrey Persi that will pave the way for running back and Cal commit
Chris Street. This should be the best team of the Pat Harlow era at JSerra.
New quarterback
Peter Costelli takes over and will work with head coach Chad Johnson, one of
the top offensive minds in the country. It’s a match made in heaven.
6. Calabasas
Quarterback
Jaden Casey (Fresno State commit) has the luxury of throwing to two of the best
receivers in the country in Oregon commit Johnny Wilson and LSU commit Jermaine
Burton.
The always
dangerous Lions bring back a strong core from last year’s Southern Section
Division I semifinalist team led by linebacker Mister Williams and receiver
Bryce Farrell (Stanford commit). They’ve also added a few transfers in Patrick
Roberg, a linebacker from Westlake and Derek Boyd a running back from Reseda.
8. Narbonne
The Gauchos are loaded and
would be higher on the list if it weren’t for the current LAUSD investigation going on involving their football program.
Quarterback Jake Garcia and linebacker Jordan Banks are special talents.
The Trailblazers
lost to Liberty in last year’s Division 1-A state championship. They have a
large number of returners led by senior linebacker JD Hernandez and junior
defensive back DJ Harvey.
10. Norco
Sophomore running back Jaydn Ott transferring to Bishop Gorman hurts, but QB Shane Illingworth (Oklahoma State commit) and DE/WR Jaden Navarrette (Oregon commit) coming back means great things are coming for the Cougars.
11. Corono Del Mar
The Sea Kings
have the best quarterback, receiver and tight end trio in Southern California
and maybe even the nation in Ethan Garbers, John Humphreys and Mark Redman. All
three are committed to Pac-12 schools.
12. Grace Brethren
Head coach Josh
Henderson has built a power. The Lancers return Mikey Zelle under center and
have a lot of size on defense led by Jay Toia, a USC commit.
13. Upland
Justin Flowe is
the best linebacker in the country and has been at Upland since his freshman
year. Running back Tyevin Ford will run over plenty of defenders in 2019. He’s
5-foot-11, but weighs over 230 pounds.
14. Servite
Head coach Troy
Thomas has a strong team and his two top players might be sophomores in QB Noah
Fifita and WR Tetairoa Mcmillan. Senior tight end Jake Overman probably won’t
agree with that though.
15. Orange Lutheran
RJ Regan leads
an Orange Lutheran team that hopes to get out of Mater Dei’s and St. John
Bosco’s shadow in the Trinity League.
The Knights are
favorites to win the Mission League. Kevin Rooney has been in charge at ND for
40 years; this will be one of his top teams led by quarterback Cooper Meek.
17. Lawndale
The Cardinals
won the Division 2-A state championship last year. Quarterback Jalon Daniels
was surgical in their playoff run. Defensive back Makell Esteen has 19 career
interceptions.
18. La Habra
La Habra has
talent all over the field led by Ohio State bound cornerback Clark Phillips.
The Highlanders will contend for a Division 3 Southern Section championship.
19. Bishop Amat
After sweeping their way through the Mission League last season, the Lancers were unlucky to draw Mission Viejo in round one. Bishop Amat lost almost all their starters, but they certainly know as a program what it takes to win at this level.
20. Rancho Cucamonga
Rancho Cucamonga has a ridiculous amount of future-D1 playmakers coming back this season, starting with star QB CJ Stroud. Their defense is inexperienced, but Coach Verti has a lot of faith in their young talent.
21. Gardena Serra
The Cavaliers are returning so much talent on both sides of the ball, with more defensive experience than some of their scoring-oriented contemporaries. Still, with 3,000-yard passer Doug Brumfield and his favorite targets returning, their offense should continually make headlines.
22. Bishop Alemany
Alemany features one of the best young QB/WR duos in the country with Miller Moss and Kevin Green. They aren't huge and their defense isn't done piecing things together, but their fast-paced, explosive offense makes them a threat to outscore anyone.
23. Los Alamitos
QB Cade McConnell looks to lead a well-balanced Los Alamitos team that has a decent amount of veteran experience. The defense was dominant most of year, but lost some key seniors. If they can seamlessly replace those seniors at receiver and on defense, they could be a major playoff threat.
24. Rancho Verde
AJ Duffy had a historically great freshman season at QB, and makes a crazy explosive duo with RB Jordan Jefferson. If their young defense can prevent big plays, Rancho Verde is a threat to upset nearly anyone.
25. San Clemente
San Clemente won its first league title since 1999 in dramatic fashion over their rival school, Mission Viejo. The elite defensive trio of Caiden Robertson, Trenton Brail, and Cole Batson combined for 318 tackles last season.
